Change is Good (Or Not)

I have a friend who has been involved in multiple reorgs over the past couple of years. He used to say “change is good” with enthusiasm and some conviction, but now he merely speaks those words under his breath in a feeble attempt to convince himself it is so. My friend chooses to think that the changes are made with the best intentions and for valid reason. He also chooses to think the changes must be for the better good and if a mere engineer could only see the “big picture” they would agree.

Yet the reorgs have become discouraging. He has said that one reorg is survivable — even welcomed. A second reorg is bearable yet questioned. A third reorg is laughable. Additional changes are, well, the joke’s over. Of course, it would be naive of my friend to think a business — any business — can survive without some element of change, but to his point, continuous change to roles, responsibilities and reporting structures can not be made without a cost.

When it comes right down to it, there are a number of factors which should be highly considered when mixing the personnel pot. For example, how much weight should team chemistry get? I mean, the team building, the earned trust, the relationships…it will be lost quite literally overnight. How about continuity and stability? How long does it take to get comfortable with your boss or your boss with you? All of the conversations on expectation setting, career planning and personal growth need to start back at scratch. It’s doesn’t say much for job stability, or job satisfaction, for that matter. Then there is the knowledge lost? How about when all of the application knowledge goes along with a person who has been assigned to other things? Somewhat devastating, I suppose. And when you shuffle around players someone ultimately has to do an awful lot of learning before they are a positive contributor in their new role. That can be a pretty big hit when an existing team members need to pick up the slack until the newbie is up and running. This list goes on and on…

Maybe breaking apart teams, swapping managers, disrupting continuity, weakening stability and losing knowledge is a small price to pay when you have a positive, end goal in mind. My friend isn’t sure, but he’s choosing to think that way…for now.